Online Shopping Scams: Buying Safely and Avoiding Fake Sellers

Online shopping scams range from sellers who take payment and never deliver, to entire fake shopping websites and social-media stores selling goods that do not exist. Deals are often priced far below market value to lure buyers.

How the scam works

A seller offers a popular item — a phone, concert tickets, branded goods — at a tempting price, but asks you to pay by bank transfer to a personal account, outside any platform's protected checkout. After payment, the item never arrives, the tracking number is fake, and the seller blocks you.

Warning signs

• Prices far below the normal market rate.
• Requests to pay by direct bank transfer to a personal account.
• Pressure to pay quickly before the "stock runs out".
• Brand-new social-media pages with few real reviews.
• Seller refuses cash-on-delivery or platform escrow.

How to protect yourself

• Keep payments inside the platform's protected checkout, never a personal account.
• Check the seller's bank account and phone on PDRM Semak Mule before paying.
• Read independent reviews and be wary of brand-new pages.
• If a deal feels too good to be true, it usually is.

If you have been cheated

Report to the platform, call 997, and lodge a police report with screenshots, the seller's details and your payment record.